Taking forward Primary Authority with
Michele Manson, Business Team Manager, Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards
Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards acts as the Primary Authority partner to VLS.
The role of the Primary Authority partner is to provide assured and tailored advice to VLS members to support them to remain compliant with appropriate regulations and legislation. This advice can cover relevant legislation such as trade descriptions, consumer protection and product labelling & packaging. Other authorities are bound to follow the advice and guidance issued by the Primary Authority partner to VLS, Buckinghamshire & Surrey unless there is good reason.
Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards also act as the first point of contact for the VLS to bring alleged non-compliances to the attention of Trading Standards. VLS chose Buckinghamshire & Surrey as it has the right dedicated team of Trading Standards Officers and the necessary resources to provide effective support. It is also the home authority of VLS whom itself is based in Buckinghamshire, England.
Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards also provide support to Coca-Cola Enterprises, Shell, Esso, British Gas, Waitrose, Toyota and the Association of Convenience Stores. They therefore have knowledge and experience of working in partnership with membership organisations and organisations based in or associated with the lubricants sector.
Examples of relevant legislation covered by the partnership includes the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (England, Wales and Scotland), to control unfair practices used by traders when dealing with consumers and provides for criminal offences to address traders that breach the legislation.
The Regulations prohibit thirty-one specific practices that are always considered to be unfair and create further offences for aggressive practices. They prohibit ‘misleading actions’ and ‘misleading omissions’ that
44 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.161 FEBRUARY 2021
cause, or are likely to cause, the average consumer to take a ‘transactional decision’ they would not have taken otherwise. They apply to commercial practices relating to products (which includes goods, services and digital content) before, during and after a contract is made.
Traders are responsible for making sure the products they offer and sell to consumers are accurately described. It is important to ensure that consumers have the right information about the products they are being offered so that they can decide whether or not they want to purchase them. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit traders from misleading consumers by falsely describing products.
The CPRs also prohibit traders from hiding information, giving insufficient information or giving information in an unclear manner about products. The CPRs cover commercial practices, which include any act, omission, course of conduct, representation or commercial communication (including advertising and marketing) by a trader that is directly connected with the promotion, sale or supply of a product to consumers.
It is a breach of the Regulations (and potentially a criminal offence) to engage in an ‘unfair commercial practice’ in relation to the description of a product: a ‘misleading action’ (it contains false or misleading information, and is therefore untruthful in relation to a list of specified matters, or its overall presentation in any way deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer) a ‘misleading omission’ (it omits or hides material information or provides material information in a manner that is not clear).
Failure to comply with trading standards law can lead to enforcement action and to sanctions, which may include a fine and/or imprisonment.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
